Mystrerious Courage
by Kosa Kinoshita
Summary: Poor Hanatarou, running from tricks on his Birthday. If only something would happen that would actually make his birthday a happy one. HanatarouxOC Yea, I think the title sucks, but whatever...


So it was just another normal day in the Seireitei, Shinigami arguing and getting drunk, some finding themselves covered in a bucket of water as they opened a door and a random explosion occurring here and there. Okay, so maybe it was not just another normal day. It was April first, one of a number of shinigamis' favorite holidays.

Why you may ask? Why it was the easiest way for those hardened (mostly Division Eleven) guys to mess with some of the more Naïve (aka members of the Fourth Division). Throughout the years it had become harder to trick them though, for Captain had been stepping her foot down, tired of the healing division becoming the site of this attack and unwilling to deal with the unneeded chaos that arose.

Still, there was one specific individual that they always loved to go after. Yamada Hanatarou, Fourth Division's seventh seat and quite the easy target. And so, why others looked forward to this day, Hanatarou greatly dreaded it.

Just as he does daily, Hanatarou was walking through the Seireitei, innocently attempting to mind his chores until he hears footsteps approaching from behind. They were quite heavy so he figured that they were probably from the Eleventh Division and if so, their motive for being there was obvious. So, not wishing to become their target, Hanatarou began to quicken his pace. Sadly, the poor boy was truly trapped.

Next thing he knew, he was hanging upside down from a large tree that had branches which reached over the walls. He sighed, realizing that once again he had been outsmarted and really wished that he had known better by now. How many times had something like this happened to him?

Looking over at the wall, he tried to figure out where he was, hoping that there would be someone around to help him down. If he was correct, the tree itself was in the main garden of the Sixth division, which brought worry to wash over him. He was not worried that either Captain Kuchiki would find him and become angry at him or that Lieutenant Abarai would find him and make fun of him. No, what worried him the most was that Izumi Reisha, current Fifth seat of the Sixth Division and ex-eighth seat of the fourth Division (and also Hanatarou's crush) would find him in his current state.

So, in a futile effort, he called out to those who had trapped him "Heheheh, really funny but, umm, I was wondering if you could please get me down from here?"

In response, the group began to laugh loudly as they walked away; discussing their next trick and Hanatarou began to immediately feel sorry for their victim. Immediately after they left his sight, he began to fiddle around, attempting to escape but was unable to reach the knot around his foot. Sighing he rubbed his head as he tried to remedy the pain that was filling his head with the blood that had been rushing their. He then tried to reach his medic pack to find perhaps a scalpel or something that was sharp but failed as the bag fell to the ground below him as he heard a familiar voice call to him from the other side of the wall.

"Hanatarou? What are you doing up there?" Rikichi looked over at him, having noticed who it was when he had been trying to reach the knot.

Hanatarou rejoiced. Not only was there someone who could help him down but Reisha was also not there! "Well, some guys tricked me."

The laugh that followed made the poor medic's heart drop, the light and soft feminity that cloaked it made it obvious as to who else was on the other side of the wall.

"Poor Hanatarou, I don't see how you can stand this every year!" Reisha was at the tree's base, and thanks to the fact that Rikichi had climbed the tree to begin to free Hanatarou, he was also able to see Reisha with a pleasant yet sympathetic smile gracing her pale face. "I know if I were you, I probably would have flipped my situation with that rope and hung myself." She tucked a piece of her long, dark brown hair behind her ear as she looked around, as if she were waiting for someone to appear.

At this point, Hanatarou was tempted to attempt such with the rope but he soon found himself meeting the hard ground and Rikichi smiled as he rubbed the back of his head. "Err, sorry about that. Hey! At least you're down now!"

"Its okay, I'm glad to be down." With that, he began to gather his medic pack as Rikichi jumped down next to him.

"Wow, good thing you didn't land on that, that would have been painful!"

"Yea, I guess it would have been." Hanatarou stood as he hung his pack on his back. "Where did Reisha go?"

"Huh? Oh, she went… somewhere… She said she had to meet someone for something, I think."

"Oh, well, thanks again for helping me, I guess I'll see you later." He smiled slightly and began to head back to the Fourth Division to hide from all of the tricks.

The walk back for him was relatively peaceful, which comforted him a bit. Not far from the Fourth's main building, Hanatarou spotted Reisha and blushed immediately. It was not until he had gotten closer that he had seen her speaking with Rin of the Twelfth Squad. Immediately, Hanatarou began to wonder why the two were talking alone in such a hidden area and his mind immediately figured that they were on a date.

Finally, the two noticed the boy and Reisha grabbed Rin's arm and dragged him away. The fact that the two had just run away from him confirmed Hanatarou's guess and thus he finished his walk to the Fourth in a visible depression.

Trying to forget the sadness that had overwhelmed him, He began to work hard and refused to stop for a break. For most of the day he continued like this until Captain Unohana requested that he deliver something to the Thirteenth Division Captain. And so, Hanatarou was again thrust into the dangerous outside, and was also required to pass the Eleventh Division.

He was grateful to find that the streets were pretty much deserted, yet was worried as he began to pass the Eleventh Division. He had brought Hisagomaru so that he could at least attempt to protect himself from any assailants. As he rounded a corner, he heard the soft voice of Reisha begging for mercy.

After hearing that, Hanatarou pulled out Hisagomaru and ran towards the ones who were bothering the sweet girl, not exactly sure what possessed him to go up against more then one of the battle-crazed shinigami. Still, he ran up and brought the sword down onto one of the men's heavily bandaged shoulder, allowing the wound to heal and the red gauge on his sword to begin to fill. He repeated this for a few times until the gauge was completely filled and the attack was released upon the men. After the attack, the men began to run away, not wanting to become the target of the blade's next attack (even though by now it had shrunk to being a scalpel type object which would make it hard to damage the men).

Hanatarou sighed, thankful that whatever he did had worked and not gotten himself beaten to a lifeless pulp. Quickly he turned around and faced Reisha. "Are you okay?"

She nodded, a slight brush gracing her cheeks. "T…thanks. Umm…" Reisha looked down at a brightly covered package that she held. Finally, after gaining some courage, she pushed it out towards the medic. "Happy Birthday Hanatarou!" Her bright smile was back and he blushed as he realized what she said.

Taking the package from her hands, he muttered a thanks and opened the package, if anything surprised that anyone, especially someone as cute as Reisha, actually remembered. Opening the package, he found a dark blue, sturdy looking Soul Pager inside.

Reisha held her arm behind her back as she began to explain her motivation. "Well, you mentioned that your last one had been smashed when some guys from the Eleventh were messing with you, so I talked to Rin and I bribed him to make one that was really sturdy and nearly indestructible. It's a little bulky, but I think it'd be better then having to worry about it getting destroyed."

Hanatarou looked at the object in his hand and smiled. Without thinking, he wrapped his arms around the girl and hugged her tightly. "Thank you."

Reisha blushed brightly as he did this and just nodded, her arms snaking around his back and her head settling on his shoulder. Finally, the two separated and a blush began to also cover Hanatarou's face as he realized what he just did. "Uhh, I'm sorry, I just…"

"No! Its okay, I mean it's not like I mind or anything…" Her eyes looked down as she began to nervously wring her hands.

Then, for the second time that night, Hanatarou was filled with a strange and uncharacteristic courage. "Reisha, I was wondering if, you may want to go out with me?" Immediately he regretted it, sure that he would be rejected.

For a few moments, the young girl was quiet, the blush on her face becoming brighter. Finally, in her sweet, soft voice she replied, "I would love that." She looked back up to him, a large smile gracing her features.

His happiness soared and, for once, Hanatarou had really enjoyed his birthday and truly hoped that this would not be the last Birthday he has that was so enjoyable.

* * *

Okay, so I felt that poor little Hanatarou deserved some happiness on his birth day so I wrote this for him! Yea, well, I hope you liked it and please review (and while you're at it feel free to check out my other fics) Thanks for reading!


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